Ghazal

Lorca's somewhat loose metrical and rhythmic pattern in the poem is an important stylistic device and may relate to the traditional ghazal. The poem is not a technical ghazal, but it does have some interesting elements in common with the Arabic form, such as the importance placed on the two line phrase, which is called a sher and is traditionally considered a complete poem in itself. Lorca often uses quiero (I want) to create the effect of individual shers in "Gacela of the Dark Death," particularly in stanzas one, two, and five, although the first two lines of stanza three make the only rhyming sher in the poem and the last three lines of stanza two make an irregular sher. These couplets give the poem a lyrical quality and may imply that the lines similar to a traditional sher follow the traditional function of a ghazal, which is...